A man's first proposal
by TheFreakZone
Summary: Antonio and Lovino have been a couple for a long time. Maybe it's about time that one of them proposes. Spamano. One-shot. Sequel to "A child's first love" and "A teen's first kiss".


_AN/ For the SECOND time the slow-burn I set on Tight Rope was too much even for me and I had to write some Spamano to get it out of my system. So, here you go: sequel to "A child's first love" and "A teen's first kiss". I suggest reading those two before for context, but the story can hold itself together without them, I think. Anyway, I hope you like it n_n_

* * *

**A MAN'S FIRST PROPOSAL**

"Marry me."

Antonio's words came out in a single breath, hot against Lovino's ear, and if it weren't because he felt his lover's body tense, he would have been uncertain about whether he had pronounced them at all. Lovino didn't answer, barely even moved, and Antonio felt every second that ticked by like a knee to the ribs. He had been heard, that much he knew, so the lack of reaction was worrying him.

Perhaps Lovino had elected to ignore the question, believing that Antonio was still high from his orgasm when he'd said it. Which, okay, was true — but that didn't mean he didn't mean it.

"Toni…" Lovino sighed, his chest heaving as he fought to recover his breath after all the previous exercise. And, before Antonio could feel relieved by finally receiving an answer: "Seriously?"

Oh. He sounded upset. Antonio pushed himself up, his hands on both sides of Lovino's head, and looked down at his lover, doubtful. Lovino stared back, an unreadable glare in his eyes.

"Toni," he called again, and there was something sharp in his voice that made Antonio smile nervously.

"Yes?"

"Do you _seriously_ think this is the right time to ask that? For real?"

"Uh—"

"Couldn't you have at least waited until you didn't have your _dick_ up my _ass_?"

Antonio looked down, at his legs tangled with Lovino's, and confirmed that yes, indeed, he was still buried inside him. "Is it inappropriate?" he asked.

"Inappropriate? No, not that. Just…" Lovino sighed again. "Ill-timed."

"Ah." Carefully, Antonio pulled out, then dropped himself next to Lovino, pulling the covers over them.

He opened his mouth.

"If you ask me again right now, then help me God — I'll punch you in the face."

He closed his mouth.

Lovino moved closer, silently demanding cuddles, and Antonio was more than happy to comply.

Their bodies fit perfectly. Lovino loved tucking his head on the crook of Antonio's neck and pushing a leg between his lover's; and in turn, Antonio loved wrapping his arms around Lovino, keeping him close and his face within reach of his sometimes-overeager lips. Their bodies fit perfectly together, and that was something that had always marvelled Antonio. And he wasn't one to believe in Fate or Destiny, but in times like that he let himself indulge in the thought that they were made for each other — that this was meant to be.

Smiling, Antonio brushed his fingers through Lovino's soft, auburn hair, then buried his nose in it. He smelled of sweat and sex and something so uniquely his it made Anotnio feel dizzy.

Lovino, his best friend, his lover.

His…

His fiancé?

"Lovi," he whispered against his brow.

"Hmm?"

"You didn't answer my question."

Lovino breathed out, the warm air tickling Antonio's chest. "I did not," he confirmed.

"So…?"

"Ask me properly. Then I'll answer."

"Okay." He kissed his brow lovingly. "Lovi?"

"Yes?"

"When I ask you properly, you'll say _yes_, right?"

"…"

"_Right?_"

~{x}~

Thinking carefully about it, Antonio had concluded that when Lovino had said "ask me properly", what he had meant was "ask me any time other than before, during or after sex". Which, on the one hand, made it very easy; but now, after that failed first attempt, he felt like he needed to make it special. Not necessarily spectacular, but special.

The good thing about being unemployed was that he had a lot of free time to think about it.

If asked, Antonio would argue that he wasn't unemployed — rather, he was currently taking a break from his constant job-juggling. In the last few years he had had dozens of different short jobs, the likes of which didn't add anything impressive to his CV but brought in enough money to live comfortably.

Lovino, meanwhile, continued being a little genius doing his little genius thing. He had easily graduated university as a mathematician. He had gotten a master's degree on what he called "advanced math" but Antonio referred to as "headache". And now he was working on his PhD about something Antonio had long ago given up on trying to understand.

"_What about a math-related proposal?_"

Antonio stared at Gilbert's face on his laptop.

"_What the hell is that supposed to be?_" asked Francis before he could. "_Also, if he were to do that, he'd need to have some basic math knowledge himself_," he snickered.

"Gee, thanks." Antonio made sure they could see him roll his eyes. Making a videocall with his two best friends and ask for advice had seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately, they tended to be more teasing than helpful. Luckily, he had been smart enough not to tell them his failed attempt at proposing. "I want the proposal to be special for the both of us. If I can keep math out of it, better."

"_You could propose at Disneyland or something like that_," suggested Francis.

Antonio shook his head. "Come on, it's like you don't know Lovi at all. A public proposal will end in a public murder."

"_Maybe go buy an engagement ring? It's a start_."

"I don't know… I'm not really fond of the whole ring thing. And I don't think Lovi is either."

"_Why not?_"

He shrugged. "I guess it kind of feels like a collar or something."

"_You guys are weird_," sighed Francis, resting his face on his hand to very obviously display his own wedding ring.

"_News flash_," joked Gilbert. "_Ah, I think you're overthinking this, Toni_," he added, waving his hand nonchalantly. "_You'll come up with something. More importantly: when you finally get engaged, who will be your best man?_"

Antonio smiled, happy to see that he still knew them well enough to have predicted that that particular question would come up sooner or later. "Well…" he said, feigning doubt as he moved his gaze from one expectant face to the other. "I'll let you guys fight to the death for that honour," he concluded with a cheeky wink. "But in all seriousness, if either of you doesn't show up, I will hunt you down."

"_As if we'd ever miss that_," scoffed Gilbert.

"_Hey, hey, Toni_," laughed Francis. "_You'd better not be marrying Lovino only to have an excuse to see us_."

"Of course not. That's, like, the third motive."

"_Okay, let me be offended: what are the first two?_"

"One: I love him. Two: tax benefits."

The truth was, it had been a very long time since the three of them had last met. It wasn't easy, with each living in a different country, and sure, they chatted almost daily and made videocalls every now and then, but it wasn't the same. Antonio missed them terribly.

Gilbert sighed loudly. "_As long as you don't make tax benefits your best man…_"

~{x}~

"Stupid. Fucking. Bureaucracy." With each word he grunted, Lovino tossed another pile of papers to the floor.

"What exactly does the university need your high school diploma for?" asked Antonio, sat in the sea of paper their living room was slowly turning into.

"Fuck if I know." Another stack of papers hit the floor, dramatically releasing a cloud of dust. "But they asked for it. And I have no fucking clue where I put it."

"Hmm." Antonio grabbed some of the fallen papers and gave them a quick search. No luck. "Don't you think maybe we should order all these?"

Lovino scoffed. "I'd love to see you try. Ah, this looks like high school. Here, search these."

Antonio looked up to see Lovino carelessly toss a handful of papers over his shoulder. He was about to complain — _How am I supposed to search those specific papers if you throw them like that and they spread and get mixed with the rest?_ — when something caught his eye. A very small paper, a card most likely, that must have been hidden among the bigger sheets.

"Whoa, and what are you?" he laughed, jumping to his feet to catch it mid-air. "Let's see—"

And then his whole world stopped.

It was a card, as he had guessed. An old, tattered, decoloured Pokémon card, mistreated by time but not by its owner. The monster on it had nearly merged with the background, but Antonio had no trouble recognizing it, the drawing so familiar he may have been able to draw it with his eyes closed.

"Arcanine," he mumbled almost instinctively.

He heard Lovino gasp. "So _that's_ where you were," he said, his voice the softest Antonio had ever heard.

"Lovi," Antonio called, managing to get his eyes off the card to look at his lover. He had moved closer, was nearly within his reach. He licked his lips — they had gone dry. "Is it…?" he started asking, and Lovino was nodding before he even finished the question. "Is it the one I gave you?"

"Yes."

"You've kept it all this time?"

"Yes."

"I—" Antonio chuckled, unbelieving. "Lovi, it's been _twenty years_."

"Yes." He walked closer; touched the card with a cautious finger. "I guess you never realized how much this meant to me."

"It—It did?"

Lovino hummed. "It was my first day at a new school and I was terrified. You helped me relax and grow a little more confident… And then you gave me your Arcanine card because it was my favourite, even though you only had it once, and…" His lips curved into a fond smile, and Antonio could have sworn there was a faint blush on his face. "And you were so energetic and happy and you kissed my cheek…" He laughed, his gaze moving from the card to look Antonio in the eye when he finished: "That's when I fell in love with you."

Antonio's heart made a backflip in his chest. He was somewhat aware that his expression, shocked as he was, had to look hilarious, but he was too stunned to worry about it. Lovino's confession had caught him completely unprepared.

"We had known each other for a handful of hours when I gave you this," he argued weakly, waving the card in his hand.

"Yes."

"And we were eight."

"Yes."

"So—"

"When I say I've been in love with you since forever, I really do mean it."

"No kidding."

They fell silent, the old Pokémon card between them, a physical representation of them, of the path they'd been walking together for so long. And it may have suffered the pass of time, its vivid colours long gone, but it held itself together with stubborn resolve, even under the heavy staring of two pairs of eyes.

Antonio was the first to look away from the card, but only so he could look at Lovino instead. His lover had the softest look on his face, all his previous anger vanished. He looked like he had gotten lost in a memory, his amber eyes glimmering and a quiet smile on his lips. And he wasn't the most handsome man Antonio had met (that could only be Francis), but he was by far the most beautiful. There was beauty in the way he frowned, pouted, smiled. There was beauty in his shyness, much milder now than when he was a kid but still there; there was beauty in the way he cared, maybe not as visibly as Antonio but just as intently. There was beauty in the way he held him and kissed him and called his name when they made love.

Was Lovino even aware of how beautiful he was?

Maybe, Antonio mused, he ought to tell him more often.

If only words would come to him.

"Lovi," he called him, his voice barely a whisper. Lovino looked at him, startled out his thoughts but his big eyes focused, waiting expectantly for whatever Antonio was to say. He cleared his throat. "I… I wish I could express myself right now. I'm a bit speechless at the moment." He chuckled awkwardly. "I love you. So, so much. And I…" he trailed off.

For a second, neither moved. For a second, they were the only people in the planet, the other's eyes the only thing worth looking at.

And then Antonio was going down on one knee, his eyes never leaving Lovino's as he presented the card and asked: "Lovi, will you marry me?"

Lovino blinked. Then cracked a smile. Then threw his head back and laughed. "I tell you to ask me properly and you fucking propose with a Pokémon card." He looked back at Antonio, his gaze full of mirth and love. "How could I ever grow bored of you?"

Antonio tilted his head to the side and cocked an eyebrow, wordlessly reminding Lovino that there was an unanswered question in the air. And he knew what his answer would be before he said it:

"Yes."

He was back on his feet in a fraction of a second. Lovino gasped when he pulled him into a kiss, taken by surprise not by the kiss itself, but by the way Antonio held him, tightly, desperately, as if he feared he would vanish in his arms if he loosened his hug. Not that that kind of behaviour was new to their relationship, but it was usually Lovino who tended to be the clingy one.

The kiss broke only when the need for air became stronger than their need for each other (that is, right before they passed out due to an oxygen shortage), and still then Antonio was unable to let go. He kept Lovino close and peppered kisses all over his face — on his cheeks, his nose, his chin, his brow — making him giggle uncontrollably.

"Toni—Toni, wait, I—_Antonio_," called Lovino between laughs. He pushed back enough to keep Antonio's lips at bay, but stayed comfortably in the hug. Not that he would have been able to get out of it if he'd wanted. "God, we have so much to plan now! When are we getting married? And who are we inviting? And…" He looked around themselves. "And we have to tidy up all these papers…"

"Lovi," Antonio cut him off, claiming back his attention. "Honestly, love, I don't care about any of that right now."

He frowned. "Hey."

"We'll have plenty of time to think about all those things." He kissed his lips again, the pout on them too tempting to ignore. "Right now, all I want to do is scoop you up, take you to our bed, and fuck you until neither of us can walk."

Lovino made a face. "I _love it_ when you get romantic."

Antonio gave him his most innocent smile, although he was positive the sentiment didn't reach his eyes. Lovino sighed and wiggled, asking to be released from the tight embrace.

"I hope you're aware that I _have_ to find that bloody diploma." As he spoke, he stole the Pokémon card from Antonio's hand and took it to the other end of the living room, where there was a framed picture of the two of them on their fifth anniversary. He tucked the card in the frame. "Let's keep you here for now."

Antonio watched him, impatiently shifting his weight from one leg to another. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Lovino insisted on looking for the diploma — he most definitely had a bit of a situation down south he needed to take care of.

But then Lovino turned to face him, and there was a (faked) resigned expression on his face when he sighed and said: "Scoop me up."

~{x}~

"Luddy! Hey, Luddy!"

"What is it, Feli?"

"Lovi just told me he and Toño got engaged!"

"Really?"

"Yes! He didn't give me any details on the proposal, but he sounded very happy."

"Good for them."

"I told him that maybe I should marry you as well."

"I'm sure he loved that."

"Well, he barely insulted you."

"Ha! Progress. Maybe I _will_ marry you."

"What, for real? Are you going to propose to me, Luddy?"

"I don't know. Yes. Maybe. We'll see."

* * *

_AN/ And some extra GerIta for you people! :D_

_Hope you liked it! Reviews are always welcome and appreciated and if you don't leave one you'll have seven years of bad luck :)_


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